Page 52 - EducationWorld Aug 2020 Flipbuilder

Cover Story

of the child and it should be left to the ters,” writes Gupta.
parents of the child. It is the element Nevertheless although the down-
of compulsion which is frowned upon. sides of NEP 2020 are over-bureau-
It is arbitrary. It offends fundamental cratisation, palpable prejudice against
rights guaranteed to the citizens of privately-promoted education insti-
this country… If parents want their tutions, medium of instruction and
children to have primary education in obfuscation of the issue of financing,
English medium, they are not commit- given the comprehensive reforms sug-
ting any crime. It is not illegal. It is not gested in NEP 2020, it’s quite possible
opposed to public policy,” ruled the that its upsides could outweigh its
apex court in a unanimous judgment. downsides.
H OWEVER THIS definitive, dation of the KR Committee incor-
The most important recommen-
unambiguous judgement
porated into NEP 2020 in toto, is for
of a three-judge bench of
the highest court of the immediate provision of formal early
childhood care and education (ECCE)
land is of obviously no consequence to for all children up to eight years of age.
the KR Committee or to Union educa- Gupta: peons & barristers warning The new policy charter (para 1.3) di-
tion minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal, rects the National Council for Educa-
because NEP 2020 has resurrected Gupta, the three-language formula tional Research & Training (NCERT)
this hoary settled issue. Concurrently, proposed by NEP 2020 insinuates to urgently draw up a national cur-
NEP 2020 has raised the old bogey of that English is a foreign language. ricular and pedagogical framework for
all primary-secondary children learn- “If there is one thing our politicians, ECCE divided into a sub-framework
ing three languages with “at least two especially those with an ear to the for 0-3 year-olds, and 3-8 years-olds.
of three languages native to India”. Al- ground understand… it is the reality “Universal provisioning of quality
though the policy document unequiv- that voters want three things from early childhood development, care and
ocally states that “no language shall be their children’s schooling — English, education must be achieved as soon as
imposed on any state”, governments English, English,” he opines (Business possible, and no later than 2030 to en-
of southern states who fiercely resist- Standard, August 1). sure that all students entering Grade
ed the imposition of Hindi as the na- In Gupta’s opinion, a major factor I are schools ready,” says NEP 2020
tional language way back in the 1960s, behind the comprehensive electoral (para 1.1). To this end, accepting the
have been quick to interpret this edict rout of the CPM (Communist Party recommendation of the KR Commit-
as yet another covert attempt by the of India-Marxist)-led Left Front gov- tee, NEP mandates that henceforth
BJP government at the Centre to im- ernment which had ruled West Bengal the 10+2 school system which took
pose Hindi and/or Sanskrit on the (pop. 91 million) uninterruptedly for no cognition of ECCE, is reconfigured
southern states. Ironically, the loud- 34 years (1977-2011), was Trinamool into a 5+3+3+4 preschool to class XII
est protest has come from the ruling Congress party leader Mamata Baner- design to provide children a strong
AIADMK party — an ally of the BJP jee’s persistent reminder to voters that foundation for tertiary education.
— of Tamil Nadu which reiterated that “for decades, the Left had condemned Under this newly designed school
only English and Tamil will be taught their generations to Bengali-medium system, all children will be provided
in the state’s schools. education, while their own children three years of play-based preschool
This messing about with medium went to English-medium schools”. education followed by two years of
of instruction and concerted covert ef- “The result, she said, was that while preparatory classes up to age eight,
forts to impose Hindi as the national your children were begging for peons followed by three years of primary
language — in his national addresses jobs, the comrades’ children were go- school preparatory learning, three
prime minister Narendra Modi uses ing to England and becoming barris- years middle stage education and four
Hindi which is not understood by 59 years in secondary and higher second-
percent of the citizenry, and Union ary classes. By incorporation of formal
education minister Ramesh Pokhri- Concerted covert efforts ECCE into the learning continuum the
yal is reportedly wholly unacquainted to impose Hindi as the 10+2 system has been extended to 15
with English, the associate and link years of school, a long overdue reform.
language of India — could cost the national language could The other positive and universally
high-flying BJP heavily. cost the high-flying BJP acclaimed feature of NEP 2020 is in-
According to well-known politi- heavily timately connected with early child-
cal analyst and journalist Shekhar hood education and nurturance. The

52 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020